S.J. home sales fall in January

San Joaquin County existing home sales fell sharply in January in what real estate experts said is a typical seasonal slowdown accentuated by a lack of homes for sale. Median prices were flat.

The Record

San Joaquin County existing home sales fell sharply in January in what real estate experts said is a typical seasonal slowdown accentuated by a lack of homes for sale. Median prices were flat.

The California Association of Realtors said Thursday that January sales were off 27 percent in the county compared to December and down 18.5 percent compared to January 2012.

That compares with a 6 percent month-over-month sales decline statewide and a 4 percent year-over-year decline.

"The extreme shortage of homes for sale continues to hinder California's housing market, as demonstrated by the nearly two months' supply drop compared with last year," CAR President Don Faught said.

The number of homes for sale countywide dropped again in January, falling 2.6 percent to 795. In January 2012, there were 1,550 homes on the market, according to figures compiled by Trendgraphix.com.

There is about a 2.8-month supply of homes available for sale in the county. Six to seven months is considered normal.

The median sales price slipped 1 percent in January to $182,430, but that was 14 percent higher than the January 2012 median.

The statewide median existing home fell 8.1 percent from December's $366,930 median price to $337,040 in January. January's price was up 24.1 percent from a revised $271,490 recorded in January 2012, marking the 11th consecutive month of annual price increases and the seventh consecutive month of double-digit annual gains.

"The drop in the median price from December to January is in line with the seasonal pattern that we've observed in recent years, when the sales share of lower-priced homes usually increases at the start of the year," said Leslie Appleton-Young, CAR's vice president and chief economist.

"For example, homes priced under $200,000 made up 28 percent of sales in January, up from 25 percent in December. Conversely, homes priced $500,000 and higher made up nearly 24 percent of sales in January, down from nearly 28 percent in December."

Homes in San Joaquin County continued to move off the market quickly in January, staying available only about 22 days before being sold. Twelve months earlier, homes for sale stayed on the market an average of 46 days.

Statewide, homes stayed on the market an average of about 37 days in January compared with about 60 days a year earlier.

Nationally, sales of previously occupied homes rose in January to the second-highest level in three years.

The National Association of Realtors said Thursday that sales rose 0.4 percent in January compared with December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.92 million. That was the second-highest sales pace since November 2009, when a temporary home buyer tax credit had temporarily boosted sales. The median price for a home sold in January was $173,600, an increase of 12.3 percent from a year ago.

Analysts say purchases would be higher if more homes were available. The supply of homes for sale dropped to nearly an eight-year low in January.